Yet another federal government sociological study reveals the high
human and economic cost of unemployment. The research, conducted by
Marcel B‚dard, an economist with the federal Human Resources
Department, states that the economic and social costs of 10 percent
unemployment are as much as $91 billion a year. Canada's 1994
jobless rate of 10.4 percent, according to the study, resulted in
$77 billion in lost productivity. The output losses include direct
budgetary costs to federal and provincial governments. Since fewer
goods are produced, governments collect less in taxes and pay out
more in social assistance and unemployment benefits. He estimates
another $14 billion in health, crime and other social costs citing
a rise in rates of death, homicide, suicide, heart disease,
admission to psychiatric hospitals and imprisonment due to
unemployment. The study reveals a direct link between unemployment
and malnutrition among the poor, resulting in chronic disease. It
also finds "generally higher stress levels in low-income groups,
associated with mental disorders, alcoholism, suicide, accidents,
heart disease and other illnesses due to high blood pressure....
Beyond the direct productivity costs of unemployment (there is a)
toll on physical and mental health, marriages and communities." Mr.
B‚dard reviewed existing research and discovered "strong
indications that unemployment can cause higher levels of illness,
premature death and crime." Mr. B‚dard said in an interview
defending his work: "We have to take account of those costs when we
are talking about unemployment."
In discussing these consequences of unemployment the study
also states that: "The unemployed are not the only ones to suffer
the consequences of these problems.... Taxpayers also pay a price,
in terms of additional costs for health care, policing, social
tension, loss of human resources and so on." B‚dard says that the
years of high unemployment are a significant factor contributing to
the annual government deficits and accumulated public debt.
This is all very well and good, but what use is this
information? It is as if people are surrounding a person dying of
cancer and are poking at the tumors that have spread throughout
the body, describing them in detail and marvelling at their
destructive capabilities but seemingly disinterested to discover
the cause of this savage illness and equally unconcerned that the
patient is on the verge of death. This is not science; it is
pseudo-science. It portrays animals pacing about a natural
phenomenon incapable of comprehending its laws and discovering the
path forward to progress. From studies such as these there will be
those that find the figures strangely appealing and positive, that
in a twisted Malthusian manner, unemployment is "good for the
overall health" of the capitalist economy, keeping wages down and
opening up new investment opportunities. Social-democrats and
liberals will seize on the figures and arbitrarily pick a lower
unemployment percentage as a policy objective. None will actually
propose a scientific solution to the economic crisis because that
endangers the very existence of the capitalist class.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
